Amy, aged 14 is brought to see you by her mother who is concerned by recent changes in her daughter’s behaviour, and so are you.

This month's Case of the Month is moderated by Dr Deborah Hawthorne.

Learn more about palliative care in aged care homes by completing the two new activities available on gplearning. The Education Resource and Multiple Choice Questions use evidence-based information from the NHMRC document: Guidelines for a Palliative Approach in Residential Aged Care – Enhanced version 2006.

RACGP QA&CPD Category 2 points for these activities have been approved.

Whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) are the single most frequently recorded injury among people injured in motor vehicle accidents who claim compensation in NSW. It is involved in 45 percent of all claims and accounts for approximately 27 percent of total costs to the scheme.

The review of prognostic factors found pain and disability persist in a majority of people with WAD at three months (60%) post injury and remain in a significant number of people at six and twelve months after injury.

In response to the high cost and poor prognosis associated with WAD, the Motor Accidents Authority of NSW (MAA) has developed new guidelines for the management of Acute WAD and this educational package has been adapted from those guidelines.

Upon completing these learning modules you should be able to:

• describe key history and examination findings required to classify WAD grades
• accurately classify Whiplash Associated Disorders (WAD) grades
• systematically apply the Canadian C-Spine Rule to identify the circumstances under which cervical spine X-ray should be requested
• identify those WAD patients with potentially poor prognosis
• describe key counselling and management outcomes for people with whiplash
• systematically prescribe the current recommended treatments for acute WAD to optimise patient outcomes and reduce risk of developing ongoing chronic neck pain .

A new online learning activity designed to support general practitioners and other members of the practice team in boosting their skills to meet the various contraceptive needs of women has just been released on gplearning.

The new activity, consists of multiple choice questions, case studies and a contraceptive counselling interview.

The activity, reviewed by Sexual Health and Family Planning Australia, has been developed through an educational grant from Bayer Schering Pharma.

This updated activity uses video and audio to explore difficult issues in contraception for young people including:

• medicolegal issues
• confidentiality, privacy and young people
• male and female condoms
• contraceptive choices
• key issues in contraceptive implants

By the end of this activity, participants should be able to:

• Outline an approach to discussing confidentiality with an adolescent
• Discuss the issues to be covered with an adolescent when they present for contraception
• List available emergency contraception (EC)
• Identify appropriate long term contraception options for an adolescent
• Describe the procedure for insertion of Implanon
• Outline the contraindications and side effects of Implanon
• Increase awareness of the need to implement effective recall systems
• Increase awareness of the importance of systems for maintaining confidentiality

This activity will take about one hour to complete.

RACGP QA&CPD Category 2 points for this activity have been approved.

The diagnosis and management of conditions in older people is one of the most challenging and growing areas in general practice. Complex pathologies which are often multiple make regular revision and updating of knowledge a must for all in general practice.

The Aged Care Part One Multiple Choice Questions provide an interactive approach to reviewing knowledge in this area including:

• Recognising common disease processes in the elderly
• Interpreting pathology findings relevant to illness in the elderly
• Describing typical physiological changes in the elderly
• Identifying causes of common symptoms in the elderly such as decreasing vision and hearing, musculoskeletal pain, tremor and changes in cognition
• Developing management plans for common conditions in the elderly
• Appreciating the benefits of automatic reminder systems to support consistent provision of high-quality patient care

This activity will take about one hour to complete.

RACGP QA&CPD Category 2 points for this activity have been approved.

The new activity considers the management of your patients with gynaecological malignancies, from first diagnosis through to palliative care, as part of a multidisciplinary team approach.

The new cancer screening activity consists of four mini cases covering:

• ovarian
• cervical
• endometrial
• vulval cancers.

The predisposing activity, main activity and post test should take you about two hours to complete. Completing the predisposing activity allows you to consider your current knowledge and practices about the topic and prepare for the activity. The post test asks the same questions and provides feedback.

Once you have completed the entire activity you should be able to:

• recognise common symptoms
• identify the risk factors
• identify the age group of the at-risk female population
• outline the systematic procedures involved in their early detection and diagnosis
• recognise barriers to prevention
• discuss the benefits of a multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach to managing patients with these gynaecological cancers
• discuss the care and management of women with these gynaecological cancers.

You may complete this activity in one session, or over a number of sessions. If you leave the activity before completing it, your progress will be recorded. The next time you attempt this activity, you will automatically resume at the screen you last completed.

This new gplearning activity was commissioned by Cancer Australia’s National Centre for Gynaecological Cancers.

This is an updated version of a current learning activity within the gplearning website. This activity presents 25 multiple choice questions covering many aspects of contraception. Feedback is displayed immediately on submission of your response to each question. On completion of the activity, your score will be available. If you have 80% or more of the questions correct, you may print a certificate of completion which entitles you to two Category 2 QA&CPD points.

This cancer screening activity offers you the latest information and approaches to screening for major forms of cancer including: breast cancer, cervical cancer, melanoma, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, and bowel cancer.

You may complete this activity in one session, or over a number of sessions. If you leave the activity before completing it, your progress will be recorded. The next time you attempt this activity, you will automatically resume at the screen you last completed.

This activity will take 2 hours to complete.